Bowles: Josh McCown Will Be Our QB

Jets Set to Reenergize for the Stretch Run

The Jets enter the bye week 4-6 and head coach Todd Bowles reiterated Monday that Josh McCown is his quarterback. And barring injury, McCown will occupy that spot for that foreseeable future.

“We’re going to play the games and we’re going to try to win each one and take them one at a time,” Bowles told reporters during a conference call. “Josh will be our quarterback then we’ll go from there.”

Even though McCown and the offense struggled to find a rhythm against the Bucs on Sunday, the 38-year-old has put together an impressive season. The 15-year veteran has thrown for 2,242 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 69% of his passes, which ranks third in the league behind Saints QB Drew Brees and Chiefs signal caller Alex Smith.

Frequently under duress against the Buccaneers, McCown was sacked a season-high six times in a 15-10 loss. He completed 23 of 39 for 262 yards in the defeat, but the Jets failed to keep drives alive and finished 3-of-15 on third down.

“We’ll put this one to bed. It is what it is, we didn’t play like we wanted to play, but we’ll move on,” he said. “It starts with enjoying the bye and letting ourselves recover, and then loading up for Carolina next week.”

Reflection After 10 WeeksWhile pundits may be surprised the Jets are 4-6 following an offseason in which the team parted ways with a number of veterans, defensive lineman Leonard Williams isn’t pleased with the record.

“We thought we’d be better than this despite all of the outside noise,” said Williams, who has recorded 1.5 sacks in the last two games. “We’re not happy that we’re 4-6 even though people thought we were going to have zero wins. We still knew who we were and we wanted to achieve greatness this year.

“We wanted to go into the bye 5-5. Unfortunately, we don’t have that luxury anymore,” he added. “We’re going to try and rest up this week. It’s been a long 10 weeks at the beginning of the season, so guys definitely need their rest. We have to make sure to come back on the same page ready to work and come back stronger after the bye.”

Injury UpdateThe bye week presents a good opportunity for the players to get healthy as they won’t resume practice until next Monday. Bowles said veteran cornerback Morris Claiborne, who aggravated his foot in Sunday’s contest, didn’t worsen the injury and remains day-to-day. He also said the team will reevaluate running back Matt Forté’s knee next Monday when the players return to Florham Park.

“It’s time to get our bodies back and reenergize ourselves,” said wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, who is tied for second on the Green & White with 35 receptions. “We have six more games left. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish and we have an opportunity to finish strong. We know we have some tough games coming ahead, but we just have to prepare.”